Seeing how many people had gathered at the dock, Bai Yuan chuckled. "Magistrate Feng, look at us—three thousand strong in one breath. Not exactly small."
Feng Jun snorted. "Three thousand pieces of loose sand versus Wang Jiayin's fifty thousand pieces of loose sand."
"Hey—who are you calling loose sand?" Flat Rabbit, trailing behind Bai Yuan, instantly bristled. He had originally been assigned to guard Gao Yiye, but she'd handed him over to Bai Yuan, so he'd followed all the way to Qiachuan Dock, keeping a low profile and causing no trouble. That lasted exactly until now.
Flat Rabbit stepped forward, huffing. "Magistrate Feng, sure, you're a big shot—but don't look down on the Gaojia Village militia. I, Flat Rabbit, number-one expert of Gaojia Village, known across the Jianghu as Flat Rabbit—peerless blade, one sword chilling forty prefectures—calling me 'loose sand' is a bit disrespectful, don't you think?"
The confidence. The swagger. The chin tilted skyward. Feng Jun paused, gave him a long look from head to toe, and thought: this fellow… seems… maybe… possibly… a little impressive?
Feng Jun clasped his hands. "My apologies. I misspoke. Might I ask what insight Hero Rabbit has regarding our current situation?"
Bai Yuan's heart sank. Oh no. The rabbit's about to reveal his true form.
Flat Rabbit, seeing a county magistrate humbly seek his opinion, felt his ego inflate. He raised his chin even higher. "Magistrate Feng, your enemy count is wrong. Wang Jiayin does not have fifty thousand here."
Feng Jun frowned. "That number comes from an official military report. How could it be wrong?"
Flat Rabbit said, "If this were a land battle, sure—he might field fifty thousand. But he's coming down the Yellow River to hit the dock. That caps him. How many men he brings depends on one thing only: how many boats he has."
Feng Jun froze—then lit up. "That makes sense! Hahaha! He can't bring fifty thousand. The Yellow River is hard to navigate; fishing and merchant boats are scarce. Even if he robbed ships all the way down, there's no way he has enough vessels to carry that many men. At most, he can send a forward force to probe us."
Flat Rabbit basked. "Exactly. He won't bring more than ten thousand. We have three thousand, defending from a riverside stockade. To land and assault successfully, he'd need at least five times our number—fifteen thousand. How could we lose?"
Feng Jun nodded to himself. This Flat Rabbit actually has a brain. That analysis holds water.
"Hahaha!" Feng Jun laughed. "In that case, I'm no longer worried."
The moment the words left his mouth, the thousand-plus laborers building the cement road and fortress erupted.
"Are we fighting?"
"So many militia—there's going to be a battle, right?"
"Bandits?"
"Whoa!"
"I'm out."
"Same. I'm not dying here."
In a burst of chaos, over a thousand laborers bolted northwest, vanishing in moments.
What remained were a little over a thousand Heyang militia, one hundred under Wang Er, one hundred under Bai Yuan—barely two thousand total.
Feng Jun wiped his sweat. "We have two thousand left. Hero Rabbit—you said they'd need five times our number. That means… ten thousand is exactly five times, isn't it?"
Sweat poured down Flat Rabbit's forehead.
Bai Yuan burst out laughing. There it is. Back to factory settings.
"Enough," Bai Yuan said, waving a hand. "Set the guns."
He pointed toward the river. "Emplace the two cannons. Barrels facing the Yellow River."
The militia moved at once.
Hoofbeats thundered from the northwest. Three hundred cavalry charged in, led by a broad-shouldered woman whose presence on horseback was like a mountain in motion—Zao Ying. She shouted from afar, "Mister Bai! Is the dock secure? By order of Dao Xuan Tianzun, I've come to reinforce. Instructor He's infantry will arrive a few hours later."
Bai Yuan turned, delighted. "Zao Tuanlian! Perfect timing. Wang Jiayin's fleet hasn't arrived yet."
Feng Jun stared. More troops? Cavalry? His heart jolted. Gaojia Village can field cavalry now?
Zao Ying called out, "My men aren't suited to dock defense. I'll scout north along the west bank."
"Good," Bai Yuan said. "Recon is in your hands."
Zao Ying clasped her fist from the saddle, kicked her horse, and thundered north with three hundred riders like a slicing wind.
Feng Jun couldn't help asking, "Gaojia Village has cavalry too? Who was that female hero?"
Bai Yuan smiled. "Our Zao Tuanlian. She trains the cavalry. Solid horsemanship, no?"
Feng Jun hesitated. "Chengcheng County isn't a horse-producing region. Where did you get so many warhorses?"
Bai Yuan grinned. "Bought them."
Feng Jun stared. "Several hundred warhorses… that's a fortune."
Bai Yuan snapped open his folding fan with a flourish, the character Junzi displayed boldly as he hid half his face. "The Li family has… some assets."
Feng Jun: "…"
Some assets? This was bordering on nation-level wealth.
Strangely enough, his confidence surged. With a backer like this… maybe we really can stop Wang Jiayin. He straightened. Fine. Come what may. Soldiers block soldiers, water blocks water. What's there to fear?
He immediately began directing the militia to build firing platforms behind the wooden palisade—otherwise the thin wall did little beyond blocking sight. Instructors ran back and forth, assigning positions.
Bai Yuan walked over to Wang Er. "Your men might not be suited for this fight. You just broke from Wang Jiayin—facing him immediately could be seen as breaking Jianghu code."
Wang Er shook his head. "I did right by him. But when his brother-in-law Zhang Liwei and his clansman Wang Guozhong tried to kill me, that ended it. From that moment on, he was the one without honor. My men can fight. Chengcheng County is our home. Fighting to protect home—anywhere you stand, it's justified."